JP2012198788A - Electronic mail system, user terminal device, information providing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

A user who has received an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users is notified of the status of other users who have received the e-mail addressed to the plurality of users.
A processing detection unit for detecting a processing action by a user for a plurality of received e-mails, a processing ID of a detected process, a user ID of the processed user, and a mail ID of the processed e-mail A process detection information storage unit 47 in which process detection information including the above information is accumulated, and a record information generation unit for obtaining an action rate indicating the number of users who have processed the e-mail with respect to the number of e-mail distribution destinations based on the process detection information 44, and a display processing unit 331 that displays an icon indicating an action rate in association with a plurality of unopened e-mails when displaying an inbox.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic mail system, a user terminal device, an information providing device, and a program.

  One of the tools for communicating via a network is an e-mail tool. However, the e-mail is not referred to unless the user who has received the e-mail actively performs the act of opening the e-mail.

  Therefore, conventionally, a technique has been proposed in which an e-mail is sent with a reply deadline, and a receiver is used to notify the existence of an e-mail whose reply deadline is approaching (for example, Patent Literature). 1). Further, a technique has been proposed in which importance is set for an e-mail, and the e-mail is forcibly displayed at a timing when a program designated in advance is started based on the set importance (for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-8-97850 JP 7-264236 A

  An object of the present invention is to notify a user who has received an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users of the status of other users who have received the e-mail addressed to the plurality of users.

  An electronic mail system according to the present invention includes a plurality of user terminal devices, a distribution device that distributes the electronic mail to a specified destination in response to an electronic mail distribution request transmitted from any of the user terminal devices, An information providing device and a storage device, wherein the user terminal device includes an electronic mail addressed to a user who uses the user terminal device, including an electronic mail transmitted by the distribution device and destined for a plurality of users. Display processing means for processing so that a list of mails is displayed, detection means for detecting processing instructed by the user for the electronic mail displayed by the display processing means, and processing detected by the detection means Process detection information transmitting means for transmitting process detection information including process identification information for identifying the content of the process and mail identification information of the processed e-mail. The information providing apparatus obtains the process detection information transmitted by the process detection information transmission unit, and registers a plurality of users based on the registration unit that registers in the storage device and the process detection information registered in the storage device. A track record information generating unit that generates track record information indicating a track record of processing by a user for each e-mail addressed to the e-mail, and a track record information transmitting unit that transmits the generated track record information to the user terminal device, The display processing unit generates status information indicating a status of other user's response to an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users based on the result information generated by the result information generating unit, and the generated status information It is characterized in that processing for displaying the display based on the associated electronic mail is performed.

  Further, the display processing means generates and displays the status information based on performance information corresponding to an e-mail that matches a predetermined display target condition.

  In addition, the user terminal device transmits a record information transmission request for an e-mail that matches a predetermined display target condition to the information providing apparatus, and acquires the record information transmitted in response to the transmission request. An information acquisition unit, wherein the result information generation unit generates the result information for an e-mail that matches a predetermined display target condition specified by a transmission request transmitted from the result information acquisition unit. Features.

  The result information generating means classifies the process detection information registered in the storage device according to a predetermined process classification standard, and generates the result information for each classification item based on the classified process detection information. Features.

  In addition, the information providing apparatus includes a reception notification information transmitting unit that transmits reception notification information including mail identification information of the electronic mail in response to reception of the electronic mail distributed by the distribution apparatus at a destination. , Receiving the reception notification information transmitted from the reception notification information transmitting means, for each mail identification information included in the received reception notification information, the number of received reception notification information is totaled, and the total number A delivery destination number obtaining unit that obtains the number of delivery destinations of the email, and the result information generating unit includes, as the result information, the number of users who have processed the email with respect to the number of delivery destinations of the email. A processing rate indicating a ratio is generated.

  In addition, the distribution device adds mail identification information for identifying the e-mail to an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users requested to be distributed, and then distributes the e-mail to each destination.

  The information providing apparatus includes attribute information acquisition means for acquiring user attribute information. When the user terminal apparatus receives an electronic mail distributed by the distribution apparatus, a mail identification of the electronic mail is received. Reception notification information transmission means for transmitting reception notification information including information and attribute information of the user, and the result information generation means refers to the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means, and a transmission request is transmitted. In addition, based on the process detection information transmitted from the user terminal device used by the user of the attribute information that matches the attribute information of the user using the user terminal device, results information is generated for each attribute item, To do.

  The user terminal device according to the present invention includes a display processing means for processing so as to display a list of e-mails addressed to users who use the own apparatus, including e-mail addressed to a plurality of users, and the display processing means Detection means for detecting a process instructed by the user for the e-mail displayed by the process, process specifying information for specifying the content of the process detected by the detection means, and mail identification information for the processed e-mail Processing detection information transmitting means for transmitting process detection information, wherein the display processing means is a user for each e-mail addressed to a plurality of users generated based on the process detection information by the information providing apparatus. Based on the result information indicating the results of processing by the user, status information indicating the user's response status to e-mail addressed to a plurality of users is generated. And, and performing generation processing of displaying in association with e-mail corresponding display based on the status information.

  The information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes processing specifying information for specifying the content of processing instructed by the user with respect to an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users transmitted by any user terminal device. The process detection information including the mail identification information of the e-mail is registered and registered in the storage device, and the process detection information registered in the storage device in response to a transmission request from any user terminal device. Based on the results information generating means for generating results information indicating the results of processing by the user for each e-mail addressed to a plurality of users, and transmitting the generated results information to the user terminal device of the transmission request source And means.

  The program according to the present invention includes a display processing means for processing a computer so that a list of e-mails addressed to users using the device including e-mail addressed to a plurality of users is displayed, and the display processing means A process including a detection unit that detects a process instructed by the user for the e-mail displayed by the process, a process specifying information that specifies a content of the process detected by the detection unit, and a mail identification information of the processed e-mail Processing detection information transmitting means for transmitting detection information, wherein the display processing means is a process by the user for each of e-mails destined for a plurality of users generated based on the processing detection information by the information providing apparatus. Status information indicating the status of the user's response to e-mail addressed to multiple users based on the performance information indicating the performance of Generates, is intended to function as a user terminal, wherein a display based on the generated status information performs processing for displaying in association with the corresponding e-mail.

The program according to the present invention includes processing specifying information for specifying the content of processing instructed by a user to an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users transmitted by any user terminal device. Registration means for acquiring processing detection information including mail identification information of the received e-mail and registering it in the storage device; in response to a transmission request from any of the user terminal devices, the processing detection information registered in the storage device Based on the results information generating means for generating results information indicating the results of processing by the user for each e-mail addressed to a plurality of users, and transmitting means for transmitting the generated results information to the user terminal device of the transmission request source ,
It is intended to function as.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to notify a user who has received an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users of the response status of the other user who has received the e-mail addressed to the plurality of users. it can.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to notify the status of other users' response to an e-mail that meets a predetermined display target condition among e-mails destined for a plurality of users.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, it is possible to specify a predetermined display target condition on the user terminal device side.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain the correspondence status of other users for each classification item.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to notify the status of correspondence to the e-mail based on the processing rate indicating the ratio of the number of users processed for the e-mail to the number of e-mail delivery destinations.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, identification information of e-mail addressed to a plurality of users can be given by the distribution device.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to notify the response status of other users whose attributes match.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to notify a user who has received an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users of the response status of the other user who has received the e-mail addressed to the plurality of users. it can.

  According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, for a user who has received an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users, the status of the other user who has received the e-mail addressed to the plurality of users in response to the e-mail is notified. Achievement information can be provided.

  According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to notify a user who has received an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users of the status of the other user who has received the e-mail addressed to the plurality of users for the corresponding e-mail. it can.

  According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, for a user who has received an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users, the status of the other user who has received the e-mail addressed to the plurality of users in response to the e-mail is notified. Achievement information can be provided.

It is the block block diagram which showed Embodiment 1 of the electronic mail system which concerns on this invention. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a computer forming a user terminal device and a mail server according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of mail information registered in a mail information storage unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of process detection information registered in a process detection information storage unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a list of processing contents detected in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process detection process in the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing display processing in the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen display example displaying information indicating the status of correspondence by other users of electronic mail in the first embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of mail information registered in a mail information storage unit in Embodiment 2. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of attribute information registered in an attribute information storage unit according to Embodiment 2. FIG.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electronic mail system according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows user terminal devices 20 and 30 and a mail server 40 connected to a network (not shown). The user terminal devices 20 and 30 each have an e-mail function, and exchange e-mails via the mail server 40. The plurality of user terminal devices 20 and 30 may have the same configuration. In FIG. 1, only two user terminal apparatuses 20 and 30 are shown for convenience of explanation of transmission and reception of electronic mail.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a computer forming the user terminal devices 20 and 30 and the mail server 40 in the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, the computer forming the user terminal devices 20 and 30 can be realized with a general-purpose hardware configuration that has existed in the past. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the computer is provided with a CPU 1, a ROM 2, a RAM 3, an HDD controller 5 connected to a hard disk drive (HDD) 4, a mouse 6 and a keyboard 7 provided as input means, and a display device. An input / output controller 9 for connecting each display 8 and a network controller 10 provided as a communication means are connected to an internal bus 11. Further, since the mail server 40 is also realized by a general-purpose server computer that has existed in the past, it may be illustrated in the same manner as in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the user terminal device 20 includes a mail transmission processing unit 21, a mail reception processing unit 22, a mail processing unit 23, and a mail storage unit 24. Similarly, the user terminal device 30 includes a mail transmission processing unit 31, a mail reception processing unit 32, a mail processing unit 33, and a mail storage unit 34. The mail transmission processing unit 21 includes a mail creation unit 211 that creates an email in response to a user operation, and a mail transmission unit 212 that sends the created email to a destination designated by the user via the mail server 40. Have. Similarly, the mail transmission processing unit 31 includes a mail creation unit and a mail transmission unit, but they are omitted from the drawing for convenience because they are not used in the description of the present embodiment.

  The mail reception processing unit 32 receives an electronic mail transmitted from another user terminal device 20 and stores it in the mail storage unit 34. When receiving the electronic mail, the mail reception processing unit 32 receives the electronic mail. A reception notification unit 322 for notifying the mail server 40 of the reception. The reception notification includes mail identification information (hereinafter, “mail ID”) of the electronic mail. Similarly, the mail reception processing unit 22 includes a mail reception unit and a reception notification unit, but they are omitted from the drawing for convenience because they are not used in the description of the present embodiment.

  The mail processing unit 33 includes a display processing unit 331, a process detection unit 332, a process detection notification unit 333, and a performance information acquisition unit 334. The display processing unit 331 displays a list of e-mails stored in e-mail storage locations such as an inbox and a transmission box, displays e-mail contents, and performs all processes related to e-mail display. . In the present embodiment, in particular, based on the result information sent from the mail server 40, status information indicating the status of response by other users to e-mail addressed to a plurality of users is generated, and a predetermined display format is generated. Is displayed. The process detection unit 332 is a detection unit that detects that the user has processed the electronic mail received by the mail reception unit 321. The process detection notification unit 333 transmits to the mail server 40 reception notification information transmission means for transmitting the process notification information including the process identification information specifying the content of the process detected by the process detection unit 332 and the mail ID of the processed e-mail. It is. The record information acquisition unit 334 is a record information acquisition unit that acquires the record information transmitted from the mail server 40 in response to the transmission request transmitted to the mail server 40. Similarly, the mail processing unit 23 includes a display processing unit, a process detection unit, a process detection notification unit, and a result information acquisition unit, but is omitted from the drawing for convenience because it is not used in the description of the present embodiment.

  The mail storage units 24 and 34 correspond to so-called mail boxes. In the mail storage units 24 and 34, each e-mail such as a received e-mail and a transmitted e-mail is classified and stored in various boxes.

  The components 21 to 23 and 31 to 33 in the user terminal devices 20 and 30 are realized by a cooperative operation of a computer that forms the user terminal devices 20 and 30 and a program that operates on the CPU 1 mounted on the computer. The mail storage units 24 and 34 are realized by the HDD 4 mounted in the user terminal devices 20 and 30. In this embodiment, the mail storage units 24 and 34 are provided in the user terminal devices 20 and 30, but may be arranged in an external device such as a mail server.

  The mail server 40 includes a mail distribution processing unit 41, a reception notification receiving unit 42, a process detection notification receiving unit 43, a result information generating unit 44, a result information providing unit 45, a mail information storage unit 46, and a process detection information storage unit 47. . In response to an e-mail distribution request transmitted from any of the user terminal devices 20 and 30, the e-mail distribution processing unit 41 transmits the e-mail to a designated destination. When an e-mail distribution request addressed to a plurality of users is transmitted, the mail distribution processing unit 41 adds e-mail identification information for identifying the e-mail and distributes the e-mail to each designated destination. When receiving the reception notification information transmitted from the user terminal devices 20 and 30, the reception notification receiving unit 42 updates the mail information stored in the mail information storage unit 46 based on the reception notification information. The process detection notification receiving unit 43 is a registration unit that writes and registers the process detection information in the process detection information storage unit 47 when acquired by receiving the process detection information transmitted from the user terminal devices 20 and 30. The performance information generation unit 44 is based on the mail information stored in the mail information storage unit 46 and the process detection information registered in the process detection information storage unit 47. It is the performance information generation means which generates the performance information which shows. The record information providing unit 45 provides the record information generated by the record information generating unit 44 in response to a transmission request from the user terminal devices 20 and 30.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a data configuration of mail information registered in the mail information storage unit 46 in the present embodiment. The mail information is configured by associating the mail ID with the number of distribution destinations of the e-mail represented by the number of reception notification information including the mail ID received by the reception notification receiving unit 42.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the data configuration of the process detection information registered in the process detection information storage unit 47 in the present embodiment. The process detection information includes process identification information (hereinafter referred to as “process ID”) for specifying the contents processed by the user for the e-mail, the mail ID of the e-mail, and the date and time when the process for the e-mail was started. A process start date and time, a process end date and time indicating the date and time when the process is completed, and a user ID for identifying the user are associated with each other. In the present embodiment, the process detection unit 332 detects the process performed by the user on the e-mail, and the types of the process to be detected are listed in advance as illustrated in FIG. Each process is assigned a process ID for identifying each process. This process ID is set in the process ID in the process detection information. The processing content table illustrated in FIG. 5 is provided so that the mail processing units 23 and 33 and the mail server 40 can be referred to. In the present embodiment, the processing content table having the same content is arranged in each of the computers 20, 30, and 40. However, any of the computers may be provided and accessed when necessary. In the user ID, the mail address of the user is set as information for identifying the user who processed the electronic mail.

  Each component 41 to 45 in the mail server 40 is realized by a cooperative operation of a computer forming the mail server 40 and a program operating on the CPU 1 mounted on the computer. The storage units 46 and 47 are realized by the HDD 4 mounted on the mail server 40.

  In the present embodiment, a distribution device having a mail distribution processing unit 41, which is a means for realizing a mail server function, and an information providing device realized by other components 42 to 47 are combined into one mail server. 40, but may be realized by another device. The distribution device and the information providing device may be formed by different devices, and a plurality of mail servers (distribution devices) may be provided in the electronic mail system. Further, the constituent elements 42 to 47 may be distributed to a plurality of computers without being arranged in a single computer.

  Further, the program used in this embodiment can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. The program provided from the communication means or the recording medium is installed in the computer, and various processes are realized by the CPU of the computer sequentially executing the installation program.

  Next, the operation in this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, status information is referred to for e-mails addressed to a plurality of users, particularly in this embodiment, but information is provided for causing an unopened e-mail to take some action. It is characterized by doing. First, an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users is delivered and stored in an inbox of each user terminal device. Here, a plurality of e-mails are delivered from the user terminal device 20, and the user terminal device An e-mail delivery process until an e-mail addressed to the user is registered in the inbox in the 30 mail storage unit 34 will be described.

  When the mail creation unit 211 in the user terminal device 20 creates an email addressed to a plurality of users in accordance with the user's operation, the mail transmission unit 212 transmits the created email.

  When the mail delivery processing unit 41 in the mail server 40 accepts an electronic mail transmitted from the user terminal device 20, if a plurality of destinations (including CC: and BCC :) are specified in the electronic mail, A mail ID for identifying the mail is generated. Then, after adding the mail ID to the e-mail, the e-mail is delivered to each destination designated as the e-mail destination. That is, in the case of a plurality of e-mails, the same mail ID is set for the e-mails distributed to each destination.

  In the user terminal device 30 used by the user who is one of the destinations of the e-mail, the mail receiving unit 321 stores the transmitted e-mail together with the mail ID in the inbox. If a mail ID is added to the received e-mail, the reception notification unit 322 generates reception notification information including the mail ID added to the received e-mail, and transmits this to the mail server 40. To notify the reception of multiple e-mails.

  In the mail server 40, when the reception notification information is transmitted from the user terminal device 30, the reception notification reception unit 42 receives the reception notification information. Then, the number of distribution destinations corresponding to the mail ID out of the number of distribution destinations held in the mail information storage unit 46 is counted up by one. If the corresponding mail ID is not registered, the number of distribution destinations is set to 1, and the mail information of the mail ID is newly registered in the mail information storage unit 46. That is, the number of received notification information of the e-mail is sent from the user terminal device 30 designated as the destination of the e-mail as many as the number distributed by the mail distribution processing unit 41. This is the number delivered by the mail delivery processing unit 41 and the number of email addresses designated as the destination of the email sent from the user terminal device 20.

  The user of the user terminal device 30 performs some processing action such as browsing by operating the mouse 6 or the like on the electronic mail received as described above. Here, the process detection process for detecting the process by the user for the e-mail will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the e-mail tool is activated, for example, an e-mail storage state in the inbox is displayed as an initial screen. In general, for each email stored in the inbox, the subject, sender, date and time of reception, presence / absence of an attached file, and an icon indicating unopened (unread) are arranged in time series. Displayed.

  The process monitoring process in this embodiment is started when the e-mail tool is started, and the process detection unit 332 constantly monitors the processing action on the e-mail by the user (step 101). When the user performs some processing on the email (Y in Step 101), the process detection unit 332 acquires the email ID of the email to be processed (Step 102). Then, until some processing by the user is completed (Y in step 104), the operation for the processing is continuously detected (step 103).

  For example, the user selects the email to view from the email list, displays the content of the text on the screen, scrolls to the end of the text, and then closes the window to end the display of the text. In such a case, the process detection unit 332 acquires the date / time of the operation displayed on the screen as the start date / time and the date / time of the operation that ended the display as the end date / time. Further, with reference to the process content table illustrated in FIG. 5, the process ID assigned to the detected process (“prc002” in the example of FIG. 5) is acquired. Then, when the processing detection unit 332 acquires the destination of the electronic mail to be processed, that is, its own mail address, the processing ID, the mail ID, the start date / time and end date / time of the process, and the mail Process detection information including an address is generated (step 105). Then, the process detection notifying unit 333 transmits the generated process detection information to the mail server 40 to notify that the e-mail identified by the mail ID has been processed by the user (step 106).

  Note that the processing for scrolling the content of the text as in the above example may be realized by operations such as the upward and downward scroll buttons, that is, a plurality of button operations. The button operations are collectively handled as one action, that is, as one process of scroll display processing. Further, in the case of the above display, there is a time width of an e-mail display time that can be grasped from the start date and time and the end date and time. In this case, the date and time when the process was executed may be set as one of the start date and time or the end date and time, or the same date and time may be set for both. This is only required to be negotiated with the performance information generation unit 44 that handles process detection information.

  When the process detection information is transmitted from the user terminal device 30, the process detection notification receiving unit 43 in the mail server 40 receives this and registers it in the process detection information storage unit 47.

  As described above, every time the user performs some process on the electronic mail, the process is detected, and the process detection information is accumulated in the process detection information storage unit 47.

  The present embodiment is characterized in that, for an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users, a status of processing by another user for the e-mail is presented to a user who has not taken any action. Hereinafter, this information display process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  When the e-mail tool is activated, for example, the e-mail storage state of the inbox is about to be displayed as the initial screen in the same manner as described above. The record information acquisition unit 334 transmits a record information transmission request to the mail server 40 when the e-mail tool is activated (step 112). The transmission request includes an e-mail address (user ID) corresponding to the inbox to be opened and a plurality of e-mails included in the inbox as unspecified as a predetermined display target condition. The email ID of the email is included. Whether or not the email is addressed to a plurality of addresses can be determined by adding a mail ID. As will be described later, in the present embodiment, the situation information generated based on the performance information is displayed in association with the corresponding e-mail, but the "predetermined display target condition" This is a condition for specifying an e-mail to be displayed. Here, a plurality of e-mails and unopened e-mails correspond to the display target conditions. Other conditions to be displayed include the unopened restriction, or if it is determined that there are a large number of unopened e-mails and the number of unopened e-mails is more than a predetermined number of received e-mails delivered within the past month Restrictions may be added. Alternatively, a range of the number of distribution destinations such as a mail ID in which the number of distribution destinations set in the mail information among the mail IDs included in the transmission request may be specified.

  When receiving the transmission request transmitted from the user terminal device 30, the result information providing unit 45 of the mail server 40 passes the content of the request to the result information generating unit 44.

  The record information generation unit 44 first performs the following processing in order for the mail ID specified as a predetermined display target condition included in the transmission request. First, mail information corresponding to the mail ID to be processed is extracted from the mail information storage unit 46. Then, the process detection information storage unit 47 is searched using the mail ID as a key, and when the process detection information that matches the mail ID is extracted, this extracted number is the number that some processing action has been performed on the e-mail. It is. However, in this embodiment, the number of process detection information is totaled for each process. That is, the process detection information that matches the mail ID to be processed is classified by the process ID. As a result, the number of users who have performed each process such as the number of users who “displayed the text” and the number of users who “replied” are grasped for the email with the mail ID.

  Here, in this embodiment, an index value called an action rate or a processing rate is obtained as the result information. The action rate is a performance value indicating a ratio of the number of users who have performed some processing action on the e-mail with respect to the number of distribution destinations of one e-mail addressed to a plurality of e-mails. The higher the action rate, the greater the number of users who have performed some processing action on the electronic mail.

  By the way, in this embodiment, processes are classified according to a predetermined process classification standard. As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, each process is classified according to a predetermined criterion of a positive process represented by “p” and a passive process represented by “n” depending on the content of the process. is doing. Therefore, in this embodiment, the action rate is calculated for each classification item. In other words, in this example, the act of viewing the entire text or replying until the user scrolls, the processing group “p”, which means that the email has been actively processed, The processing is classified according to the classification criterion of the user's corresponding attitude, such as a processing group “n”, which means that the electronic mail that has been deleted or treated as spam is passively processed.

  If the action rate in which the active processing represented by “p” is performed is referred to as a positive action rate, the processing classified into this active processing, specifically, “display text”, “scroll to text” Distributes the sum of the number of each processing such as “displayed to the end of”, “open attachment”, “clicked URL in text”, “replyed”, “forwarded”, “added tag” The positive action rate is calculated by dividing by the first number. In some cases, a plurality of e-mail addresses of the same user are designated as e-mail destinations. However, only one e-mail address is handled as an e-mail address for one user. Then, it can be said that the positive action rate is a ratio of the number of users who have performed the above-described positive processing to the total number of users designated as the destination of the e-mail.

  Similarly, when an action rate that has been subjected to passive processing represented by “n” is referred to as a negative action rate, the processing classified into this passive processing, specifically “deleted”, “spam mail” The negative action rate is calculated by dividing the sum of the number of each process specified by the number of distribution destinations.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the action rate is calculated for each predetermined classification item, that is, the positive action rate and the negative action rate. Of course, the action rate may be calculated for the entire process without such classification, or the action rate may be calculated for each process.

  The procedure for calculating the action rate is an example, and may be calculated by another procedure. For example, an action rate may be calculated for each process, and a sum of action rates of processes belonging to the same classification item may be obtained.

  By the way, one user displays a single e-mail a plurality of times, or only displays it ("prc001") and then returns on another day ("prc005"). However, in this case, the process detection information is generated every time an action is performed. Accordingly, since a plurality of process detection information is accumulated in the process detection information storage unit 47 for one electronic mail, the user ID included in the process detection information in order to increase the accuracy of the action rate, Alternatively, referring to the user ID and the process ID, the process may not be counted repeatedly for one user. For example, it is assumed that the process detection information of each process is registered in the process detection information storage unit 47 because a certain user processes the “display the body” process and the “return” process on different days. For example, if the action rate is calculated for each process, each process is classified into a different group. Therefore, each process detection information has an action rate of “display text” and an action rate of “reply”, respectively. In order to calculate, it is sufficient to count as it is. However, if each process detection information belonging to the same classification item is counted when calculating the positive action rate, the process detection information based on one user's action is counted redundantly. Therefore, in such a case, the process detection information based on the same user may not be added redundantly.

  As described above, the record information generating unit 44 performs processing for generating the above-described positive action rate and negative action rate for each mail ID included in the transmission request. In this way, an action rate is generated as performance information. In addition, when a predetermined display target condition is not specified in the transmission request, it may be repeated for all pieces of mail information registered in the mail information storage unit 46. The record information providing unit 45 provides information by transmitting the record information generated in this way to the user terminal device 30 that is the transmission source of the transmission request.

  In the present embodiment, the action rate is transmitted as the performance information, but information such as the number of distribution destinations and the integrated number of processing detection information may be included in the transmitted performance information.

  Further, the record information generating unit 44 may temporarily hold the generated record information for a predetermined period. As a result, for the transmission request for the same mail ID, the calculation result for the mail ID temporarily held without performing the generation process of the actual information, specifically, the action rate calculation process, is used as the actual information. You may make it provide. The predetermined period to be temporarily held may be a fixed time length. However, immediately after the e-mail delivery, there is a high possibility that some user will take some action. Therefore, there is a high possibility that a lot of process detection information used for calculating the action rate will be collected. Immediately after the delivery of minutes or the like, it may be set relatively short such as 5 minutes, and may be set relatively long such as 5 hours as time passes.

  Returning to FIG. 7, when the record information is transmitted from the mail server 40 in response to the transmission request, the record information acquisition unit 334 acquires the record information by receiving the record information (step 113). And the display process part 331 produces | generates the status information for displaying on the display 8 based on the acquired performance information. That is, when the e-mail tool is activated, the display processing unit 331 tries to display the reception box as an initial screen. At this time, the performance information acquisition unit 334 acquires the performance information, so the display processing unit 331 Then, the status information is generated based on the acquired record information, and as shown in FIG. 8, the receiving box is displayed with the status display icon added to the target electronic mail.

  FIG. 8 is an example of a display screen provided by the e-mail function in the present embodiment, and is a diagram showing a display example when e-mail stored in the inbox is displayed as a list. In FIG. 8, the subject, the sender, and the date and time are displayed side by side with respect to the received electronic mail. Also, an icon indicating new mail, unopened, etc. is displayed immediately before the subject (left side). Further, in front of the icon (left side), that is, at the top of the line displaying the information of each e-mail, a status display area 15 for displaying the status display icon that is characteristic in the present embodiment is provided. Yes. That is, the display processing unit 331 generates a status display icon as status information indicating the status of response by another user to an email addressed to a plurality of users based on the received record information, and the subject of the corresponding email Etc. are displayed in association with the line displaying them. For convenience of explanation regarding display, a line displaying information related to electronic mail such as a subject is simply referred to as “electronic mail”.

  In FIG. 8, the meaning of the action rate is expressed by the shape of the status display icon. However, by changing the display attributes such as the size, display color, brightness, and blinking of the status display icon, the difference in the action rate is displayed. You may make it express. Further, the degree (level) of the action rate may be expressed by changing the display attributes such as the size, display color, luminance, and blinking speed of the status display icon in stages depending on the value of the action rate. In the display example shown in FIG. 8, the status display area 15 has only one icon space, but an area is secured so that a plurality of status display icons can be displayed simultaneously for one e-mail. May be. Alternatively, the action rate calculated for each process may be received from the mail server 40 and a status display icon indicating the action rate of each process may be displayed.

  Moreover, without displaying all the performance information acquired from the mail server 40, each action rate included in the performance information is compared with a predetermined threshold value, and a status display icon representing the action rate is displayed according to the comparison result. Alternatively, the status display icon may not be displayed in the same manner as an e-mail addressed to an individual. In addition, the status display icon may be displayed only when the number of distribution destinations is equal to or less than a predetermined number or more than a predetermined number. In the above description, the predetermined display target condition is set in the transmission request for the actual information. However, in addition to setting in the transmission request for the actual information, the predetermined condition is set when the situation information is generated based on the acquired actual information. You may make it apply the conditions of a display target.

  Further, as another example of the process of displaying the display based on the status information in association with the corresponding e-mail, for example, the received e-mails arranged in the order of reception date and time are rearranged in the order of high or low action rate. For example, the display format of the inbox may be displayed differently from the normal case.

  By referring to such an action rate, that is, the state of response by another user, the user may recognize that he / she needs to respond to the e-mail. For example, since an e-mail with a high positive action rate can be understood that other users are actively performing an action such as referencing, the user who sees the status display icon to this effect displays an e-mail, etc. May take action. In addition, since an e-mail with a high negative action rate may be considered unnecessary by other users, a user who sees a status display icon to this effect may take an action such as deletion.

  By the way, in this Embodiment, the performance information which shows the performance of the process by a user is produced | generated by the mail server 40 side, The situation information which shows the status of the response by other users based on the performance information is produced | generated by the user terminal device 30 side. However, the status information may be generated on the mail server 40 side, and the display processing unit 331 may be configured to simply display the status information sent from the mail server 40.

  Further, as described above, in the present embodiment, when a plurality of destinations are specified in the email requested to be delivered to the email delivery processing unit 41 in the mail server 40, the email ID added to the email. Was generated. That is, the distribution apparatus having the mail distribution processing unit 41 according to the present embodiment is formed by adding a function for generating a mail ID to be added to a plurality of e-mails to the existing mail server function. However, the existing mail server function may be used as it is, and the mail ID may not be generated and added.

  For example, the reception notifying unit 322 can generate mail identification information by extracting a combination of a sender (sender), a subject, and a transmission date / time of a received electronic mail, or a part of a character string thereof. If it is an e-mail addressed to multiple addresses, the same character string other than the subject should be included in the e-mail, so that the character string is extracted and mail identification information that can be distinguished from other e-mails is generated. . In this way, the mail identification information may be added to the e-mail on the user terminal device 30 side.

  However, in the above-described processing, the reception notification unit 322 can recognize that the received e-mail was an e-mail addressed to a plurality of addresses by adding a mail ID, and as a result, the e-mail addressed to a plurality of addresses. Can be notified to the mail server 40. If the mail server 40 does not add a mail ID, the reception notification unit 322 cannot determine whether the transmitted electronic mail is addressed to a plurality of addresses or an individual address. Accordingly, the reception notification unit 322 sends a reception notification for all electronic mails to the mail server 40. Further, the mail receiving unit 321 adds the mail identification information generated by the reception notifying unit 322 to the received electronic mail and stores it in the reception box.

  Furthermore, the process detection unit 332 detects processing actions for all electronic mails, and all detected process detection information is registered in the process detection information storage unit 47.

  However, when the record information generating unit 44 generates record information, if only e-mails whose number of distribution destinations included in the mail information is two or more are processed, an e-mail addressed to an individual generates at least record information. There is no target.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the action rate is obtained by classifying the action rate as an example of the result information, particularly the active processing and the passive processing that is not so, and is presented to the user with the status display icon. In the present embodiment, the record information is generated based on the process detection information matching the condition based on the user attribute information, and the status information generated based on the record information is displayed. That is, the situation information is displayed only for the processing actions of other users that match the attributes of the user who uses the user terminal device 30.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the electronic mail system in the present embodiment. The electronic mail system in the present embodiment has a configuration in which an attribute information storage unit 48 is added to the electronic mail system shown in the first embodiment. The attribute information storage unit 48 may be realized by the HDD 4.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of attribute information in the present embodiment. In the attribute information, the user ID for identifying the user is registered in association with the attribute of the user and the mail ID for identifying the mail received by the user.

  The present embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the attribute information storage unit 48 is added to the first embodiment and the processing related to the attribute information is different. Therefore, the operation of the present embodiment will be described focusing on processing different from that of the first embodiment.

  First, the mail delivery processing unit 41 in the mail server 40 generates and adds a mail ID to a plurality of e-mails transmitted from the user terminal device 20 and designates it as the destination of the e-mail, as in the first embodiment. Delivered to each destination.

  When the user terminal device 30 receives the transmitted electronic mail, the reception notification unit 322 transmits the reception notification information including the mail ID to the mail server 40 as in the first embodiment. However, the reception notification unit 322 according to the present embodiment uses the attribute information database (not shown) of the email tool as the attribute information of the user who has the mail address specified as the destination, in other words, the user who uses the user terminal device 30. ) And include it in the reception notification information before sending.

  In the mail server 40, the reception notification accepting unit 42 distributes corresponding to the mail ID included in the reception notification information out of the number of distribution destinations held in the mail information storage unit 46, as in the first embodiment. Count up the previous number by one. Further, in the present embodiment, the attribute information included in the reception notification information is registered in the attribute information storage unit 48. If already registered, each value of the attribute specified by the user ID is updated with the content included in the newly received attribute information, and the mail ID included in the attribute information in the attribute information storage unit 48 is updated. The mail ID included in the reception notification information is added.

  The subsequent processing and processing monitoring processing performed when an e-mail is distributed are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  Next, a process for displaying information indicating the status of processing by other users will be described. Since the process on the user terminal device 30 side in this process is the same as that in the first embodiment, it can be represented by the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, and the result information generation process in the result information generation unit 44 is different from that in the first embodiment. That is, the record information generation unit 44 searches the process detection information storage unit 47 using the mail ID as a key, and extracts the process detection information that matches the mail ID. From the process detection information, the attribute of the user that can be specified from the user ID included in the mail ID transmission request is further extracted from the attribute information storage unit 48, the user ID having an attribute that matches the attribute is specified, Process detection information including the specified user ID is extracted. Thereby, the track record information generation unit 44 calculates, for example, an action rate by a user having the attribute of male. The attribute used as a condition for narrowing down the processing detection information, such as which attribute is used as the search key for extracting the processing detection information, may be set by the administrator of the mail server 40 or the e-mail sender. .

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the user terminal device 30 has the mail transmission processing unit 31, the mail reception processing unit 32, the mail processing unit 33, and the mail storage unit 34 all on the user terminal device 30. The electronic mail is centrally managed for a plurality of users by another server, and only display processing and input reception are performed on the user terminal device using a technique such as AJAX (Asynchronous Java (registered trademark) Script + XML). It is good also as a structure.

1 CPU, 2 ROM, 3 RAM, 4 hard disk drive (HDD), 5 HDD controller, 6 mouse, 7 keyboard, 8 display, 9 input / output controller, 10 network controller, 11 internal bus, 20, 30 user terminal device, 21 , 31 Mail transmission processing unit, 22, 32 Mail reception processing unit, 23, 33 Mail processing unit, 24, 34 Mail storage unit, 31 Mail transmission processing unit, 32 Mail reception processing unit, 33 Mail processing unit, 40 Mail server, 41 mail distribution processing unit, 42 reception notification receiving unit, 43 process detection notification receiving unit, 44 result information generating unit, 45 result information providing unit, 46 mail information storage unit, 47 process detection information storage unit, 48 attribute information storage unit, 211 Mail creation unit, 212 Mail transmission unit, 321 Mail reception unit, 322 Notification unit, 331 display unit, 332 processing detection unit, 333 processing detection notification unit, 334 record information acquisition unit.

Claims (11)

A plurality of user terminal devices;
A delivery device that delivers the email to a specified destination in response to a delivery request for the email sent from any of the user terminal devices;
An information providing device;
A storage device;
Have
The user terminal device
Display processing means for processing so as to display a list of e-mails addressed to users who use the user terminal device, including e-mails addressed to a plurality of users transmitted by the distribution device;
Detecting means for detecting a process instructed by a user for an email displayed by the display processing means;
Process detection information transmitting means for transmitting process detection information including process identification information for identifying the content of the process detected by the detection means and mail identification information of the processed e-mail;
Have
The information providing apparatus includes:
Registration means for acquiring the process detection information transmitted by the process detection information transmitting means and registering it in the storage device;
Based on the process detection information registered in the storage device, performance information generating means for generating performance information indicating the performance of processing by the user for each of e-mails addressed to a plurality of users;
Result information transmitting means for transmitting the generated result information to the user terminal device;
Have
The display processing unit generates status information indicating the status of other users' response to an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users based on the result information generated by the result information generating unit, and the generated status information An e-mail system that performs a process of displaying a display based on the URL in association with a corresponding e-mail.   The electronic mail system according to claim 1, wherein the display processing unit generates and displays the status information based on performance information corresponding to an electronic mail that matches a predetermined display target condition. The user terminal device transmits a record information transmission request for an e-mail that matches a predetermined display target condition to the information providing apparatus, and acquires record information transmitted in response to the transmission request. Having means,
3. The record information generating unit generates record information for an e-mail that matches a predetermined display target condition specified by a transmission request transmitted from the record information acquiring unit. The e-mail system described.   The result information generating means classifies the process detection information registered in the storage device according to a predetermined process classification standard, and generates result information for each classification item based on the classified process detection information. The e-mail system according to claim 1. Receiving notification information transmitting means for transmitting reception notification information including mail identification information of the e-mail when the e-mail distributed by the distribution device is received at the destination;
The information providing device receives the reception notification information transmitted from the reception notification information transmitting unit, and totals the number of received reception notification information for each mail identification information included in the received reception notification information. Having a distribution destination number acquisition means for acquiring the total number as the distribution destination number of the e-mail;
The said performance information production | generation means produces | generates the processing rate which shows the ratio of the number of the users who processed with respect to the said email with respect to the number of the delivery destinations of the said email as performance information. Email system.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the distribution device adds mail identification information identifying the electronic mail to an electronic mail addressed to a plurality of users requested to be distributed, and then distributes the electronic mail to each destination. Mail system. The information providing apparatus includes attribute information acquisition means for acquiring user attribute information;
The user terminal device has reception notification information transmitting means for transmitting reception notification information including mail identification information of the electronic mail and attribute information of the user when the electronic mail distributed by the distribution device is received. ,
The result information generation means refers to the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquisition means, and the user used by the user of attribute information that matches the attribute information of the user who uses the user terminal device to which the transmission request is transmitted 4. The electronic mail system according to claim 3, wherein performance information is generated for each attribute item based on the processing detection information transmitted from the terminal device. Display processing means for processing so that a list of e-mails addressed to users using the device including e-mail addressed to a plurality of users is displayed;
Detecting means for detecting a process instructed by the user with respect to the email displayed by the display processing means;
Process detection information transmitting means for transmitting process detection information including process identification information for identifying the content of the process detected by the detection means and mail identification information of the processed e-mail;
Have
The display processing means addresses a plurality of users based on performance information that is generated based on the processing detection information by the information providing device and indicates the performance of processing by the user for each email addressed to the plurality of users. Generate status information indicating the status of the user's response to the e-mail, and display the display based on the generated status information in association with the corresponding e-mail;
A user terminal device. A process including process specifying information for specifying the contents of a process instructed by the user for an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users transmitted by any user terminal device, and a process including the mail identification information of the processed e-mail Registration means for obtaining detection information and registering it in a storage device;
In response to a transmission request from any of the user terminal devices, generation of performance information indicating the performance of processing by the user for each e-mail addressed to a plurality of users based on the processing detection information registered in the storage device Achievement information generating means to perform,
A transmission means for transmitting the generated record information to the user terminal device that is the transmission request source;
An information providing apparatus comprising: Computer
Display processing means for processing so that a list of e-mails addressed to users using the device including e-mail addressed to a plurality of users is displayed;
Detecting means for detecting a process instructed by the user for the email displayed by the display processing means;
Process detection information transmitting means for transmitting process detection information including process identification information for identifying the content of the process detected by the detection means and mail identification information of the processed e-mail;
Have
The display processing means addresses a plurality of users based on performance information that is generated based on the processing detection information by the information providing device and indicates the performance of processing by the user for each email addressed to the plurality of users. In order to function as a user terminal device that generates status information indicating a user's response status to an e-mail, and performs a process of displaying a display based on the generated status information in association with the corresponding e-mail. Program. Computer
A process including process specifying information for specifying the contents of a process instructed by the user for an e-mail addressed to a plurality of users transmitted by any user terminal device, and a process including the mail identification information of the processed e-mail Registration means for acquiring detection information and registering it in a storage device;
In response to a transmission request from any of the user terminal devices, generation of performance information indicating the performance of processing by the user for each e-mail addressed to a plurality of users based on the processing detection information registered in the storage device Achievement information generating means,
A transmission means for transmitting the generated result information to the user terminal device of the transmission request transmission source;
Program to function as.

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